Damso

William Kalubi (born 10 May 1992 in Kinshasa), better known by his stage name Damso, is a Belgian Congolese rapper, singer, and songwriter.

Early Life

Kalubi was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo to Congolese parents. When he was 9 years old, he and his family left the Democratic Republic of Congo because of the bloody armed conflict and moved to Belgium. They eventually settled in Matonge, a Congolese surburb of Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. ^[1]

Education

After completing his secondary school, his parents pushed him to continue his studies. So he enrolled in marketing and psychology but he spent more time in recording studios which affected his results and led to a clash with his parents especially his dad, a medical doctor in Kinshasa. ^[2] "I was even kicked out of the house!" explained Damso A time of struggle for him, who lived in the various squats in the city and traded right to left to make money. He said "I did marketing and psycho. But racism has been a drag on my life choices. I never really felt accepted. I tried to find jobs, I had interviews. But that did not work. It may be because of my height, I'm scary, I do not know. It is also what pushed me into illegality; it was not to be clever, I needed cash. All this makes you angry, but it also makes you want to make your own choices. Working behind a desk with a boss who calls you a dirty nigger did not interest me. I do not want to accept that situation just because I have to pay my rent at the end of the month. It motivated me." ^[3]

Career

Damso started his rap career in 2006 by performing in local and underground events. At the start of his rap career, he formed rap collective OPG with his childhood friend Dolfa. They later recruited Ducke, Lio Brown, and Rex. He released his first solo project Salle d'attente online as a free download in 2014. In collaboration with his band OPG and significantly inspired by his younger brother Mehdi Rais, he released his mixtape MMMXIII on 24 September 2014. Damso made his name in 2015 thanks to his song Poseidon, which appears on Booba's OKLM mixtape. Following this, he joined the 92i, collective created by Booba, and signed at Universal. ^[4] He made an appearance on the album Nero Nemesis of Booba, on the track Pinocchio, in collaboration with Booba and the rapper Gato Da Bato. The verse of Damso is very noticed by the public and the media, which allows him to be discovered by the general public. He was signed to Universal Music with which he has released three albums, Batterie Faible in 2016, Ipséité in 2017 and Lithopédion in 2018. ^[5]

Controversy

National soccer teams often commission musicians to create songs for big tournaments as a way of building morale and reflecting national identity. In 2018, the Belgian Football Association announced that they would hire Damso to prepare anthem for their participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. However, the Belgian FA received strong criticism from the public and women rights group because of misogynist and sexist content of Damso’s songs. In March 2018, it announced that it had ended the collaboration with Damso “by mutual agreement,” according to a statement. The association went on to say, “We especially wish to apologize to all those who felt offended, discriminated against or diminished by the choice of the artist in question.” ^[6]

Awards

All his albums are certified platinum. On July 8, 2016, his first studio album, entitled Batterie Batterie, was released on Booba's 92i label. The project, fully mixed and recorded by Krisy, has been certified platinum with more than 100,000 sales in France. ^[7] His second album Ipséité was released on April 28, 2017 and has been certified platinum triple in less than six months, with more than 400,000 sales in France. ^[8] In 2018, his third and latest album Lithopedion was certified Platinum few weeks only after the date of release.

Discography

Notes

References